Ford says initial demand for Bronco SUV tops expectations

Ford Motor Co. says it already has more than 125,000 orders for the revival of its classic Bronco sport-utility vehicle, which doesn’t hit showrooms until June.

The order bank is filling faster than the automaker anticipated and represents about two-thirds of the 190,000 refundable $100 deposits made by US and Canadian consumers. Typically, a third to half of such nonbinding reservations convert to actual sales, Ford says. The SUV was unveiled last July.

“The demand for the Bronco has really been overwhelming," said Mark Gruber, consumer marketing manager for the SUV. “We couldn’t have imaged it would be this much when we decided to bring back Bronco." About seven in 10 of those initial orders are for high-priced models loaded with options, he said in an interview.

Ford has, however, had another delay for the Bronco’s removable roof. Two options, a high-gloss modular hard top and a roof that came in soft or hard-top versions won’t be available until early next year. The supplier, Webasto, has been hampered by the pandemic but now has its roof plant up and running in Plymouth, Michigan, Gruber said. Ford decided to focus initial roof production on the most popular configurations.

“You’d love to be able to offer everything from the start, but we’ve got to focus on the volume" roof preferences, Gruber said. “We’ll offer these as soon as we can."

To make up for the delay, Ford will offer various rewards to customers who have to wait until next year, including $1,000 worth of points that can be used to purchase vehicle accessories or on maintenance such as oil changes, he said.